By Huangfu Haitao

皇甫海涛

On December 13, 1937, Japanese troops invaded Nanjing and began a massive, brutal massacre of Chinese people that lasted more than 40 days, killing 300,000 innocent lives and leaving the darkest page in the history of human civilization. That heart-rending period was a tragedy and disaster for the city and a shame on human civilization.

1937年12月13日，侵华日军侵入南京，对我同胞实施长达40多天灭绝人性的大屠杀，30万无辜生灵惨遭杀戮，在人类文明史上留下最黑暗的一页。这段惨绝人寰的历史，不仅仅是一座城市的悲剧和灾难，也是人类之劫、文明之耻。

This year marks the 85th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre. Today, people around the country are commemorating in various forms the massacre victims, all those Chinese who fell down under Japanese aggressors’ gunpoint and bayonets, and the revolutionary martyrs and heroes who devoted their lives to winning the war of resistance against Japanese aggression.

今年是南京大屠杀惨案发生85周年。今天，全国各地群众以多种形式深切缅怀南京大屠杀死难者，缅怀所有惨遭日本侵略者杀戮的死难同胞，缅怀为中国人民抗日战争胜利献出生命的革命先烈和民族英雄。

If history sheds no light on our way toward the future, we will be trapped in darkness without a way out. We commemorate history not to continue the hatred, but to draw lessons from it to guide us onward. Back then, in face of the brutal and atrocious Japanese aggressors, the Chinese people pulled together and fought relentlessly to win a great victory against them, making tremendous contributions to winning the world anti-Fascist war. Today, as a responsible major country, China is duty-bound to shoulder the responsibility for preserving world peace. It would never allow the comeback of militarism or a repeat of the historical tragedy.

当过去不再照亮未来，人心将在黑暗中徘徊。我们纪念历史不是为了延续仇恨，而是要以史为鉴，警示未来。当年，面对极其野蛮、极其残暴的日本侵略者，中国人民凝聚起血战到底的伟大力量，赢得了抗日战争的伟大胜利，也为世界反法西斯战争胜利作出重大贡献。今天，中国作为一个负责任的世界大国，必须义无反顾地肩负起维护世界和平的责任，决不允许军国主义卷土重来，决不允许历史悲剧重演。

Recently a total of 453 pieces (sets) of vital historical materials and objects were added to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders that further proved the atrocities of Japanese aggressors. Yet in recent years, some Japanese politicians have frequently visited the Yasukuni Shrine where Class A war criminals in WWII were enshrined, downplayed their crime in the Nanjing Massacre, denied the forced recruitment of comfort women, and publicly challenged the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Proclamation and the Tokyo Trial, to name a few. If Japan doesn’t reflect on its past crimes or take lessons from history but is instead bent on acting against the trend of the times, it will surely go down the wrong path again.

前不久，侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆新增453件（套）重要文物史料，进一步确证了侵华日军暴行。然而，近年来，一些日本政客频频参拜供奉有二战甲级战犯的靖国神社，淡化南京大屠杀罪行，否认强征慰安妇，公然质疑挑战《开罗宣言》《波茨坦公告》和东京审判……日本如果不反省历史罪责，不汲取历史教训，继续执迷于逆时代潮流而动，必将再次误入歧途。

Peace is a blessing for the people and defending peace is the people’s army’s responsibility. History has taught us that without a strong country and a powerful army, peace and happiness for the people would be impossible. A strong country must build a strong army because only a strong army can ensure national security. With greater capability and more reliable means, the entire military has the resolve and ability to defend the nation’s sovereignty, security and development interests.

安享和平是人民之福，保卫和平是人民军队之责。历史深刻昭示：没有一个强盛的国家，没有一支强大的军队，人民就没有幸福安宁可言。强国必须强军，军强才能国安。全军官兵将拿出“全力以赴，务期必成”的决心和状态，以更强大的能力、更可靠的手段捍卫国家主权、安全、发展利益。